There's a shortage of men in the kingdom of Amarra. After a failed rebellion against the matriarchy, most noblemen in the country are dead. Now the women of Amarra must obtain their husbands (should they want one) by kidnapping them from other kingdoms.
Olerra, a warrior princess vying for the throne, is determined to prove her worth by kidnapping a husband. And not just any husband. To outmaneuver her treacherous cousin, she needs the best. Fortunately, the second-born prince of their greatest enemy is widely known for both his looks and his sweet, docile temperament. He's the perfect choice to secure her claim to the throne.
Sanos, heir to the Kingdom of Brutus, has nothing but contempt for the idea of a society run by women. Trained from birth to fight, lead, and follow in his father's overbearing footsteps, his path has always been set. Until he takes his younger brother's place in a drunken prank and finds himself kidnapped, carted off to the Amarran Palace, and informed that he is to become the husband of Queen Potential Olerra. Sanos needs to escape before anyone learns his real identity, but the more he gets to know his captor, the less sure he is of what he truly wants.
Tricia Levenseller’s What Fury Brings is a bold and unapologetically adult romantasy that flips traditional fantasy gender dynamics on their head. Set in the matriarchal kingdom of Amarra, where women hold political and physical power and men are scarce, warrior princess Olerra must kidnap and “train” a husband to secure her claim to the throne—launching a story that subverts expectation after expectation.
Warning: this is absolutely an adult book, with graphic sexual content, darker themes, and an author’s trigger-warning note at the start. The narrative leans hard into its role reversal premise, presenting a world where men are often treated as second-class citizens and the traditional power structures of fantasy are deliberately up ended.
Levenseller’s take on gender roles feels almost like a “flip-the-script” exploration of expectations for men and women, both in society and in the bedroom, evoking something akin to Wonder Woman’s Amazonian vibes—fierce, dominant women navigating not just political power but desire and consent. Olerra is a formidable protagonist whose fierce drive and vulnerability create a compelling tension with Sanos, the kidnapped prince who believes fiercely in traditional male dominance at the outset.
While the premise may divide audiences, there’s no denying What Fury Brings is a provocative, fiery read that challenges norms and embraces its adult categorization with gusto.
Overall, I rate this novel 4 out of 5 stars.
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